President Ram Nath Kovind
has said the Constitution gives us the right to freedom of expression
but it also expects that we abide by the laws and rules with equal
sincerity.
Addressing the joint sitting of both the Houses of Parliament on the
first day of Budget session today, he termed the recent acts of
dishonouring the National Flag and showing disrespect to the auspicious
occasion of the Republic Day as unfortunate.
He said the three farm laws enacted by the Parliament in the previous
session aim at further helping the farmers in the country as they
provide more rights and power to the farmers. Mr. Kovind added that over
ten crore small and marginal farmers have started getting benefits from
these reforms in the agriculture sector.
The President also said, in light of these benefits many political
parties extended their full support to the reforms. The President
however said the implementation of farm laws have been put on hold by
the Supreme Court and the government will respect whatever is the
decision of the Apex Court.
He asserted that the Central government has taken several measures to
improve the condition of farmers in the country like implementation of
the recommendations of the MS Swaminathan committee report on
Agriculture. It has increased the MSP of crops by 1.5 times.
Talking about the fight against COVI-19, Mr. Kovind expressed
satisfaction that due to timely decisions of government, lives of
millions of people have been saved and the number of corona patients are
gradually decreasing in the country. He said, the country has started
recovering from the damage done to the economy by the COVID pandemic
amid centre’s incessant efforts to save the life of every countryman.
He added that even in these difficult times, India has emerged as an
attractive place for the investors of the world. He also said by making
lakhs of corona vaccine doses available to several countries India has
also fulfilled its obligation towards humanity in these times of
difficulty.
Highlighting the several steps for the welfare of youth, the President
said the Centre’s decision to end interviews in the selection process of
Group C and D posts has greatly benefited the youth in the country. He
said the Centre has also set up the National Recruitment Agency to
relieve the youth from the hassle of taking numerous exams for
appointment to government services.
The President said it is a delightful coincidence that the nation
started construction of the new Parliament while moving towards the 75th
year of Independence.
President Kovind said the government is fully committed to protect the
interests of the country. Referring to the Galwan Valley incident, he
said, additional forces have been deployed to protect India's
sovereignty over the LAC.
President Kovind said that under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan
Yojana, 80 crore people were provided an additional 5 kilogram free food
grains per month for 8 months.
He said the Government was also mindful of the plight of migrant
labourers, workers and those who were away from their homes. He said, an
amount of nearly 31 thousand crore rupees was directly transferred to
the Jan Dhan accounts of poor women.
President also said that during this period, more than 14 crore gas
cylinders were given free of cost throughout the country to poor women
beneficiaries, under the Ujjwala scheme.
Highlighting the efforts of the Centre towards ensuring best healthcare
facilities in the country, he said that under the Ayushman Bharat -
Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, 1 crore 50 lakh poor people in the
country received free treatment of up to 5 lakh rupees.
President Kovind said that raising the standard of living of the
villagers has been a priority for the Government. He said, this is best
exemplified by the 2 crore houses built since 2014 for the poor families
living in villages.
He said besides delivering water to every household under the Har Ghar
Jal yojana, work on water conservation is also progressing at a rapid
pace. President Kovind also underlined the construction of nearly 6 lakh
42 thousand kilometres of road in the rural areas of the country under
the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana.
Talking about women participation in the growth story of the nation, he
said the Government has taken several decisions in this direction, such
as appointing women in the Fighter stream of the Indian Air Force and
the Military Police for the first time. President Kovind said, the
Centre also came up with the ‘Suvidha’ scheme under which sanitary
napkins are made available at a nominal cost of 1 rupee.
President Kovind said efforts are underway to transform Brahmaputra and
Barak rivers as streams of development and this will benefit all
sections of people in the North East.
Talking about development initiatives in Jammu and Kashmir, he said
after becoming a Union Territory, elections to the Ladakh Autonomous
Hill Council have been held successfully a few months back. He said
after the implementation of ‘Ayushman Bharat Health Scheme’, every
family of Jammu and Kashmir is assured of free treatment worth 5 lakh
rupees.
President Kovind said the development oriented policy of the Government
has also received wholehearted support from the people of Jammu and
Kashmir.
Highlighting the reforms ushered in through the National Education
Policy 2020, he said that under the new policy it is the first time that
the students have been given the freedom to opt for the subjects of
their choice.
President Kovind said after abrogation of provisions of Article 370 the
people of Jammu and Kashmir, have been empowered with new entitlements.
He also mentioned the commencement of the construction of a grand Ram
Mandir temple in Ayodhya after the Supreme Court judgement.
President also informed that the country will witness the beginning of
the ‘Amrut Mahotsav’ from this year which will mark the commencement of
the celebrations towards the 75th year of India's Independence.
Congress, Left, RJD, NCP, DMK, TMC, Shiv Sena, Samajwadi Party and
others have boycotted the President’s address protesting against the
farm laws.
(With input from news agency language)
If you like this story, share it with a friend! We are a non-profit organization. Help us financially to keep our journalism free from government and corporate pressure.
0 Comments